McWilliam MP: “Curaçao must request help from the Netherlands for refugees problem”

WILLEMSTAD - Curacao must seek the help of the Netherlands in the refugee problem on the island. The Member of Parliament for the coalition party MAN, Giselle McWilliam calls on the Curaçao government to do this. Curacao is too small according to McWilliam to tackle this problem independently, even if it is the responsibility of the island.

Minister of Justice Quincy Girigorie says he cannot cope with the high number of refugees and therefore must send them back. The Dutch government calls the sheltering of refugees an internal case of the Curaçao government.

People in need are ultimately the victims, writes Irene Broekhuijse, university lecturer at the VU in an opinion piece in the Dutch newspaper Trouw. According to her, Dutch responsibility does indeed exist, also in a legal sense. Suppose, for example, that a Venezuelan refugee would ultimately present his or her case to the European Court of Human Rights, then the Kingdom of the Netherlands is the accused party.

In that context, the Netherlands, as the largest kingdom partner, cannot escape its responsibility, according to Broekhuijse in Trouw.

McWilliam now thinks that Curaçao should receive assistance from the Netherlands.